Deal, Pennsylvania

Deal is an unincorporated community near Meyersdale in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 21 miles northwest of Cumberland, Maryland. Deal is situated at the top of the Allegheny Mountains near Mount Davis. A post office existed here in the 1880s.

Deal was the Western Maryland Railway summit of the Alleghenies on the Connellsville Subdivision. The elevation at Deal is 2,375 feet (724 m). Cumberland was 21 miles away with a 1.75% grade drop; and Connellsville, Pennsylvania, was 65 miles away, with a 0.08% grade drop. It was considered the easiest railroad crossing of the Alleghenies. Deal was not just the top of the mountain for the railroad but also the crossing of the Eastern Continental Divide. Deal had a passing railroad siding and two setoff tracks. Four tracks were located east of Deal, including a 110-car storage track. In the steam days a water tower existed in Deal. A train order office existed but was closed in the 1950s, although it remained in use by service and work crews. The order office closed because of Centralized Traffic Control that was installed between the portions of Cumberland and Deal. Deal was a crew-change point on the railroad. Today the Great Allegheny Passage uses the entire Western Maryland Connellsville Subdivision's right-of-way between Cumberland and Connellsville.